Sunday, February 22, 2009

These past few weeks have thankfully passed by very quickly. I'm finally on vacation! Woo-hoo! Unfortunately to begin the vacation, I have 6€ which won't go very far. Thankfully February is a short month and I'll hopefully be paid within the next few days. I'll need it to go to Normandy for the following week. Christophe and I and a friend are planning on doing a France road trip from the east to the West coast with a stop over to Versailles. Last year I did a similar trip to Brittany to visit Rennes and the Mont St. Michel, but this year we're driving a few kilometers farther to visit the Beaches of Normandy from WWII and to also visit some museums and well known cities. On the agenda is visiting Caen, Deauville, and maybe Cherbourg. Other than this voyage, a ski trip might be in order this week. The monthly budget will have to be strictly followed during this vacation or I'll quickly find myself with 50€ for all of March.

In other news, Christophe and I bought a mixer/food processor to facilitate our cooking. We also bought electric beaters so I think i'm going to attempt to make a soufflé of some sort. I found a video cooking blog on the NY times website and I've fallen in love. I'm going to attempt some of his recipes. I need to remember to document my attempts so that I can post pictures to the blog.

Lastly, this week, my students celebrated Carnavale, the annual event where people dress up in crazy costumes and faire la fête (party) in order to prepare for Lent. It was so cold but the kids had a blast. I also ate one too many beignets, a traditional Carnavale snack, which I guess is the equivalent to small pieces of sugary fried dough. I had a pretty bad stomache ache at the end of the day...

Saturday, February 14, 2009

I decided to do something different this year and take advantage of my new oven to make an edible Valentine's Day gift for Christophe. Thanks to Leesa's post on her heart shape sugar cookies, I decided to try to make my own version. Here's the process in pcitures:

They came out soo yummy! So thanks again Leesa! Other things on the Valentine's day agenda besides baking cookies? Christophe and I are going to dinner at a popular thai restaurant that we've been meaning to try for a while. I can't wait!

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Sunday was a great day that was spent outside tasting wine and getting frostbite on my toes. We attended the event by train and after, a navette bus was provided to get to the small village that was 15 km from the train station. About 50 "caves" wine cellars were opened to everyone to taste and buy wine. Upon entering, you were given a wine glass that you could wear around your neck with 10 wine tasting tickets placed inside.Regional food stands were allowed in only so there were no kebabs to be found (thankfully). I ordered a Tarti' Mont d'or for my lunch which is a regional dish that consists of potatoes, ham, and mont d'or cheese. Very yummy.

40 wine tickets spent, and 2 bottles of empty wine bottles later, we were ready to go home. It was a great event and I hope to attend next year.